A/N: Thank you for my first review, it made me quite happy lol. I wasn't finished with Chapter 4 quite yet, but that gave me the incentive to knock it out before work. So here we are with Andie and Alice once again, only I decided to let Alice have her say in this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight characters, plots, or situations, only my own characters and plots. The reprinted lyrics are from Frost's The Road Not Taken, and seem to sum up Alice's dilemma very nicely.

APOV:

I let Andie fall asleep on the couch, playing with her hair, and amazed that she didn't start bleating about what all she had to do tomorrow, which I knew included work at eight the next morning. I made a mental note to wake her around six, so that she could go back to her apartment and get ready for the day, as I had ruined what clothes she wore over. I felt a tiny bit bad for that, but not too much: I had waited far too long for what had happened an hour ago. Jazz wouldn't be back until sunrise, I'd had a vision of that, so I didn't bother moving her to my bed until around three.

I lay there beside her after I'd tucked her into my useless bed, and sighed at the fact I could not sleep with her. It was just as good to see her eyes move behind their delicate covers, knowing she was dreaming about me when she whispered my name, a hand coming out to me in her slumber.

"Right here," I answered softly, wondering if she could even hear me, as I lay my hand in hers. "Forever," I added, and her fingers clasped my palm tightly.

When I had told Andie what I'd seen of her becoming an immortal, the vision went automatically hazy, telling me it was not the done deal I had thought. The very notion terrified her, and I could not blame her. Eternity is a very long time to thrive. I meant every word I said to her about how I would take care of her once she was infirm, and that I would die when she did. I had waited on Andrea Fowler for a hundred and nine years, and if she would cease to exist, so would I. What was the point in going on without her, when I would become the emotionless hull that Marcus had become when Didyme had perished? Or the vengeful harpy that Victoria had become when she lost James? The spite that led Irina to her untimely death once she begrudged us for the death of Laurent? No, I would skip those things best I could.

Andie was a perfect mate for me, both physically and mentally. Our bodies fit like two pieces to an infinite puzzle, her height only an inch or so above me, her body mass matching exactly. She had kaleidoscope eyes, such a shade of blue they were violet, and her shy smile, even if her front teeth were a tad crooked, it was adorable. She had a dark beauty mark on her left hip that for some reason I found highly arousing, and there was a tiny tattoo of a butterfly on the other side that was even more so. I loved the fact that she wore glasses, and hated that she wore clothes that were too big for her, hiding her feminine curves from prying eyes like mine. But when she looked at me with that sideways glance and bashful grin, and that blush crept up her neck, that was my most favorite thing about Andie's appearance; I relished the fact that I got to her so much, that she was that in love with me, as I was with her.

Edward had made being with her sound harder than it was proving to be. As of yet, I'd only had to put myself in check twice with Andie: once when she was on her monthly and was heavy, I'd made a quick excuse to leave (I left the stove on), and I stayed away from her for the next week (inhumane torture). The other time had been hours before, when she'd been as aroused as I'd ever seen or smelled her become. Her heart pumping incessantly, blood coursing rhythmically through her veins, stirred every piece of the predator in me to take her and feed; the aroma of her accumulated to an overload in my brain, and when I kissed her and tasted her tongue and felt her life fire against my own, the need for her murdered that piece. The last thing it ever did was rip the clothes free of her body... I was ashamed of that, I wish I'd caught myself sooner, taken it slowly. Had I been human, perhaps I would have.

I woke her at five, after seeing that six would make her late, and as a result she would be disgruntled with me, and goodness knows I couldn't have that. "Hey, you," I whispered in her ear, tasting the rim before I pressed my lips to it softly. How amazing was it I could do that now without fighting against myself? But the best thing yet– telling her the truth about myself and my family.

"Alice?" she murmured, and I felt the same thrill I always felt when she said my name.

"Of course," I assured her, grinning into her neck, inhaling that smell that made my throat and my sex burn simultaneously, but in two completely different ways. I sampled the flesh over her jugular with another tiny flash of my tongue. Oh, god, the way she overcame my senses, my rationality. Just pray she doesn't overcome your self control, too, I told myself as I kissed her lips. "Did you sleep well?" I asked her when I finally pulled away from her so she could breathe. Silly human.

"Like a rock," she yawned in reply, stretching hard, then gasping sharply in pain.

"What? What's wrong? Are you okay?" I panicked, remembering what my brother had warned about his experience with Bella when she was still human. Bella had awoken with bruises the next morning, no matter how gentle he'd been.

"I'm fine," Andie said automatically, but I pulled the covers away to see for myself.

No. Oh no, I thought to myself as I scanned the damage I'd done to her delicate body. There were ruptured capillaries across her breasts, in the exact places I knew I'd kissed and suckled her flesh. I could map my path south by the bruises my lips had trailed down her abdomen, and jesus look at her neck! "Andie," I whispered apologetically, barely touching my finger to the hand prints that were my own on her hips and wincing at her next gasp of pain. "I didn't see this." Why had I not seen this when I began? You were the blood drinker, I answered myself, and I felt sick. I had done this to her.

"Alice, I've had bruises like this from human sex," she scolded me, pushing herself upright in the bed, wincing the whole time. Then she looked down at herself for the first time, and there was no masking the surprise on her beautiful face.

"Really?" I said sarcastically. "You always looked like you were mugged on a subway after sex with Daphne?" I regretted the tone immediately when she shot me a look of incredulous hurt, and if I could have blushed, I would have. As it was, I merely looked away from her, unable to look at those dark purple eyes. How could I have done that to her, knowing the risks? How dare I? And then take that tone with her like it's her fault. How was that love? These emotions for her were going to the death of us both if I didn't fix it very soon.

"Well, you can mope about it if you want, but just so you know, last night was the best night of my life, Alice Cullen, and I'll be damnedif I am going to let you and your pissy attitude ruin my good mood!" With that, she threw herself over my lap and mashed her mouth against mine.

I hadn't seen that one coming, either. What was going on with me? I could usually see the future with Andie perfectly because I was so attuned to her energy. It wasn't right.

I allowed the assault for a few seconds, then I gently pulled away from her, giving my own wince at the way she looked at me murderously, daring me to contradict her, at which I hesitated, but then said what was on my mind. "Andie," I said evenly, knowing she was not going to like the words I was about to say to her. "I think we should hold off on the physical for... well, I think it should be a while."

Her face melted into sorrow, and my chest ached. "A while?" she repeated, sliding off of me and moving away from me on my king-sized bed.

I unconsciously held a hand out towards her, not wanting her out of my range of touch, but she jerked back a little more, hurt in the rejection, and my chest hurt that much more. "Please, Andie, be reasonable," I bawled desperately, gesturing at the wreck I had made across her skin. "As gentle as I could be, and I still hurt you! Your lips are swollen, too, and you know what that's from!"

She glared at me, and I felt embarrassed that she looked lovely to me in a temper, something I'd rarely seen from her, and to make matters worse for myself, she was still bare assed naked, teasing me all the more. "I like the fact that I'm sore, Alice, I get it, you're a vampire, but you're still you! And this little bit of pain means you were here, you kissed and nuzzled every part of me last night, and I'm thankful there are marks and soreness, so I don't confuse it with a dream. It was so amazing to be with you like that, Alice." She looked at me with tears standing in her beautiful eyes, shaking her head like she couldn't believe my countenance.

"You won't be able to work like that," I pointed out, but I can't lie: her defense had moved me.

"So? They can get along without me for now, I've only missed two days since I started there. You're not getting out of this discussion, so stop trying to distract me."

I smirked at her, raising an eyebrow at her, and she also stopped, realizing the same thing I was: we had switched the roles from last night, with Andie being the aggressor now. "Fine," I said simply, sarcastically giving in. "You win. We'll keep at it until I shatter your pelvis, and then maybe even after that."

She gave me an open mouthed stare, shaking her head again. "I don't like you when you're like this," she grumbled, turning away from me. "You're being childish."

I laughed; I couldn't help it. This little human girl arguing with me heatedly, an immortal more than capable of killing her, and she wasn't the least bit afraid. When she whipped around at my laughter with a look that made me a bit fearful, I tried to explain that to her, which made her roll her eyes.

"Of course I'm not afraid of you, Alice, sheesh," she growled, turning in circles, looking around for clothes that weren't there. Then the memory of their fate dawned in her eyes and her face went beet red. "Um... off topic, but... can I borrow something to put on until I get home?"

I patted the bed next to me. "Come back to me, first."

She didn't move, just stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "After all of that, you want me in bed with you, fully nude?" she said in a flat tone, gesturing to me.

"Andie..." I let her name ring on the air by itself, and she deflated under it's spell, an effect we'd always had on each other, unable to stay angry with one another, though we bickered off and on pretty regularly.

She came back to her side of the bed and slid back onto the mattress, and I pulled her over to me easily, wrapping my arms around her, feeling her shiver at my cold arms on her flesh. I sighed, wishing hard that I was human for her, that this could be easy for us. "What's wrong, Alice?" she whispered, running her hands along my forearms.

I didn't answer at first, letting my name echo in my mind. When she nudged me, I picked my face up from her bare shoulder and found her eyes mere inches from mine. "You need to feed," Andie told me softly, noting the darkening color of my irises, and I chuckled sardonically again because of her utter acceptance. It had delightfully surprised me.

"And I will," I replied, smiling at her.

"Tell me what's on your mind, please?" she reminded me lightly, turning a bit to face me completely.

"I wish I could be human for you," I replied truthfully. "I wish that this morning could have turned into a round two, and that we were both fully involved, with no reason to restrict ourselves. I wish I could convince you after to call out of work and we could sleep the rest of the morning away together, and get lunch when we wake up. I wish we could spend the afternoon in the park sitting in the sun together, talking about the plans for the night. And I wish that we could do it all over again."

She was quiet, then she asked in barely more than a whisper, "Why can't you go into the sun? Does it hurt you?"

I shook my head, smiling. "I love being in the sun. I just can't do it very often, and have to be in a secluded area away from humans. My skin reacts differently to the light, vampires glitter in the sun," I told her, thinking that I might show her sometime soon, if we could steal away to the country, or perhaps when I took her to meet the family.

"Glitter how?"

I thought for a second for the best description, and giggled. "Like diamonds, kinda," I said and she gave a tiny smile. "What?" I asked her, laughing.

"You would glitter like the most valuable gem on the planet," she teased me, and I laughed again, kissing her. I tried to pull away quickly, but Andie followed me, not letting me go, and I really didn't try to put up any resistance. I would never be able to tell this girl no.

After a few minutes, she pulled away, but still rubbed her nose against mine. "We could sleep the morning away, I'm not averse to being here with you. After all, I have to call out anyway."

I bit my lip. "I can't sleep. We don't sleep."

She gave me a quizzical look, her head tilted to the left just a little, then she said, "Huh. So you just pretended to sleep?"

I nodded. "I didn't mind, trust me. Those nights were my favorite nights, until last night happened. I love being the one you fall asleep beside, Andie."

She was quiet, contemplating, playing with the neck band of the t-shirt I'd thrown on while she slept. "So, you hold me, all night, and watch me sleep?"

I nodded, tightening my arms around her now. "Nearly every night," I admitted, and her eyes narrowed. "The only nights I'm not with you, I'm hunting."

She stared at me for a few seconds, and a slow grin grew on her lips, stretching her mouth wide. "You come over when I'm sleeping to hold me?"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but it was unnecessary, as she squealed and kissed me, blowing my mind: I expected her to be angry at me for invading on her privacy. "Alice, that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" Then she froze. Oh no, the realization. "You've seen me masturbate, haven't you." Not a question.

Honesty is the best policy in these uncomfortable situations, I told myself sternly, as I fought back the lie I was going to tell her. "A few times," I admitted sheepishly, looking away from her; her embarrassment lay in the fact that she would say my name from deep within whatever fantasy played behind those amethyst eyes.

"So, you knew how I felt. You knew without a doubt."

"I do," I agreed, scared that she was about to blow.

Andie scoffed agitatedly, throwing herself off of me, getting to her feet again, and starting to pace the length of my bedroom, her hands twisting in front of her. "I'm always the last to know! Christ! And what really pisses me off is that I could feel you there with me. Some part of me knows when you're around, it can sense you! But I wrote all that off to wishful thinking, and now you're sitting here telling me you saw!"

I flashed to her side, my speed not even causing her to flinch, and I grabbed her wrist imploringly. "Andie, your feelings weren't the enigma for me, it was what you planned to do about them. I got the answer I wanted, it's fine. You weren't the last to know anything, we found out at the same time, when you made the decision to be with me."

She pointed a finger at me. "You can stop the stalker shit, now, you may come in any time you'd like."

I grinned. "You got off harder because I was there," I taunted her, and she closed her eyes as a visible shudder went down her core.

"It's not fair," she pouted, looking at the carpet beneath her bare feet. "I never got to sit around and just watch you get yourself off."

"Who said I just sat there and watched?"

Her head shot up at my words and she smiled when she saw the glint in my eye. "We tease too much to be playing the abstinent card," she noted, and rightly.

I bit my lip. That damage had been done. There was no denying that it could– and probably would– happen again. "Just– call your supervisor. I'll be in the shower. Join me when you're finished," I said softly, trying not to put the promise in my voice, but failing. I knew what was going to happen in there. I'd signed away the easy path when I fell in love with a human girl.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Keep those reviews coming... I'm working out 5 in my head as I type...